Yu-Gi-Oh: Corrupted Links
by WyoRanger
Summary: Welcome to Duel Links, a virtual reality duel world where millions can play and have fun. But when a virus corrupts everything, players become trapped and dueling becomes a matter of life and death. Join Wyo as she fights to survive. A pure OC cast of characters with references to characters from the shows. (Currently rewriting. Please read and leave constructive criticism.)
1. Life or Death Duel

/ I am currently rewriting the story. I wasn't very happy with how the series was progressing and am working on the pacing. I will update when I can. Please leave comments, concerns, and suggestions on how to make this series better. Any input would be very much appreciated. /

Chapter 1: Life or Death Duel

Wind blew through her dark hair as she jumped off of the city bus and began sprinting down the sidewalk. A massive smile sprawled across her face as she practically danced around the slow moving people, careful to keep the box in her arms tightly pressed to her chest. The white bag that surrounded her new treasure was a stark contrast against her dark skin.

"Hey, Whitney! Slow down! You're going to knock someone over if you aren't careful!"

"Can't," Whitney Youngson replied breathlessly, grinning from ear to ear at one of her neighbors before skidding to a halt at her family's front door and struggling with the lock. "It finally came out today! I can't wait to get it booted up and hop online!"

"Wait, that's today?!" Her neighbor stared in awe at the box in Whitney's arms. "How many VR's did they have left?"

"Plenty. If you hurry you should still be able to get one in time to watch the opening ceremony. They are going to pick two lucky players to officially kick off the game with an opening duel. See ya!"

Whitney slammed the door shut before taking off up the stairs for her room. Leaping onto her bed, she pulled the box out of the bag and quickly had the VR headset out of its casing and plugged in to the wall to charge. She breezed through the user's manual, memorizing every little aspect of the piece of equipment before placing the headset on her head and adjusting it until it fit comfortably. Hitting the power button, she held her breath to keep from squealing with joy as the start screen lit up across her vision.

'Welcome to Duel Links,' the words read. Whitney laid back on her bed as she went through the character creation screen, the neural link, and finally the username creation screen.

"W. Y. O," Whitney's virtual fingers selected each letter. As soon as she confirmed the name Wyo as her username another screen appeared with dozens of starter decks to choose from. "Which one... warriors? Or maybe dragons? No... oh! This one! Spellcasters!"

Her surroundings slowly faded to black before being replaced with a fantasy city already full of players. Several were going through their menu screens inspecting their decks, viewing additional screens such as equipment and inventory. Deciding to hold off on exploring the menus until later she wandered around, gawking at the amazingly detailed virtual world around her.

She weaved through the crowds as she made her way deeper into the city, eventually arriving at her destination. The coliseum rose high above every other building, and by the sounds of things was already full of excited players waiting for the kick off duel to begin. Wyo quickly made her way inside and managed to find a spot close to the stadium's floor for an up close view of the duel.

Hundreds of thousands of voices blurred together into a deafening rumble all around her. Everyone was just as excited as Wyo was for the event to begin, officially kicking off the start of the virtual world. Glancing around, Wyo noticed several people barely containing their excitement. From a petite looking girl with strikingly white hair and deep blue eyes bouncing on her toes as she waited to what appeared to be a brother and sister duo who could have passed as identical twins had it not been for the girl's long hair.

"How much longer are we going to have to wait, Beret?" The young man asked, crossing his arms. His sister draped and arm around his shoulders and gave him a shake.

"Relax, 'Ranger'," Beret replied, trying and failing to soothe her brother's irritation. "It'll start when it starts. Just sit back and relax until then."

Wyo returned her focus to the middle of the stadium as the lights dimmed and a single spotlight illuminated a lone announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Duel Links!" He cried out before quickly being drowned out by wave after wave of cheers from the crowd. Wyo began to lean in to get a better look, eager to hear more, when a late arrival stumbled down the row and fell into her lap.

"What's up you eager #%?" The stranger casually asked, looking up into Wyo's eyes before frowning. "What the #%? Am I being # censored? What kind of # bull#% is this?! I want my money back!"

"U-Umm... who are you?" Wyo asked, confused as the spectacled, pasty pale redhead in her lap continued cussing up a storm with a series of censored beeps.

"Huh?" The girl looked back at Wyo and smiled. "Oh come on. You don't recognize me? I mean sure, I gave my character a bit of a touch up, but it shouldn't be that hard to figure it out."

"Uhhhh... wait, Helen?!"

"Ding ding ding! But it's Hela here. I couldn't do Hel like I wanted, the game considers it a bad word too closely related to... you know what, forget it. Too much censoring going on for my likes. I swear, if my deck gets censored once I get it completed I'm out."

"Don't be like that," Wyo chided her classmate. "Besides, your deckbuilding is top notch. You can easily use another one and still be competitive."

"That's no fun," Hela kicked her feet in annoyance. As a second spotlight flared to life above them she stopped and looked around. "Hey, Wyo? What's going on. What'd I miss?"

"I don't know." Wyo responded as she glanced around, noticing that all eyes were on her and Hela. Even as Hela moved off of her the light continued shining on her, illuminating Wyo like a deer in headlights.

"Wyo!" The announcer motioned at Wyo again as if her name was the answer to her question. "Oh come on, kid, don't look so stunned. Just get out here."

With a start Wyo realized that she had been selected as one of the lucky two duelists who would officially open Duel Links with a duel. She slowly made her way out into the arena on shaky legs, the roar of the crowd practically beating down upon her as she nervously smiled and waved. Looking back at Hela, Wyo couldn't help but let out a smile and laugh as her friend screamed like a banshee.

"C'mon baby! # kill it... # censor... Let's go Wyo! WOOOOO!"

"And her opponent for the opening Ceremony Duel shall be...," the announcer called out, waving all around towards the stands as the spotlight traced around the stadium. Wyo watched, unable to breath, as the light came to a halt not five feet from Hela. "...Beret!"

Meanwhile, a strange being sat at the top of the colosseum, overlooking the festivities below while data flew across the digital screen in front of its face. A percentage bar slowly filled up in the corner, just passing 48% as data continued to load.

"Soon."

Back in the middle of the colosseum, Wyo took her place across from Beret, the two women smiling as their duel disks activated on their arms and their decks shuffled themselves into place. They drew their starting hands and prepared to give their all.

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

Wyo - 4000

Beret - 4000

"I'll start things off," Beret exclaimed as she took a card from her hand and slid it into a spell/trap card slot. "I play Reinforcement of the Army. With this I can add any level four or lower warrior from my deck to my hand. And I choose Marauding Captain. Next I'll summon him to the field in attack position, and using his special ability I'll special summon Command Knight in attack position. Thanks to Command Knight's ability all of my warriors gain 400 additional attack, and Marauding Captain will prevent you from targeting my knight as an attack target. I'll set one card face down as well and end my turn."

"I draw, and set one card face down. Next I summon to the field Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack position. Finally, I'll activate the continuous spell card Spell Absorption. Now any time either of us activates a spell I'll gain 500 life points." Wyo's pulse pounded in her ear as she pointed at Marauding Captain, "Neo, attack her captain!"

Wyo's monster rushed forward, blue magic swirling around its sword as it leapt into the air and brought its sword down hard.

"I activate my trap card, Shield Spear!" Beret's facedown card suddenly flipped face up. "Thanks to this my captain's attack and defense raise by 400 each making him more than a match for your wannabe swordsman."

Wyo smiled as she activated her own facedown card.

"I'll counter your trap with this, Magical Dimension! By tributing my Neo I can special summon another spellcaster from my hand, and I choose this lovely lady. Dark Magician Girl!" Wyo could feel the colosseum shake as fan boys and fan girls erupted into a thunderstorm of cheers for their favorite spell casting idol. "Next I get to choose one of your monsters and destroy it with my quick-play spell's secondary effect, and I'll target Marauding Captain."

Beret scowled as her monster erupted into digital dust.

"Don't look so down," Wyo taunted. "Also, thanks to Spell Absorption, I gain 500 life points. And to end my turn my Dark Magician Girl will attack your Command Knight!"

Wyo's monster once more launched an attack, blasting Command Knight to smithereens.

Wyo - 4500

Beret - 3600

Wyo grinned ear to ear as she took the lead, even egging on the cheers from the crowd. As the dust settled and Beret became visible once more, however, her excitement quickly turned to puzzlement and concern. Beret knelt in the dirt, pain sprawled across her features as digital blood dripped from a cut above her eyebrow.

"T-That... That hurt! Why did it hurt?!" Beret wiped at her brow and stared at the blood, shock and fear welling up in her eyes.

Before anybody could speak or cry out a figure materialized between the two duelists. It was scrawny, not much taller than Wyo's shoulder, with purple skin that seemed to be made out of minuscule blocks.

"W-W-Welcome to D-D-Duel L-Linkzzzzz," its voice glitched before what barely passed as a face spread into Halloween pumpkin smile. "I s-see that you'vvvveeee noticed the n-n-new stip-uuuuuu-lation to this w-world-d-d."

"What the #% are you talking about you pasty, purple #% ?" Hela shouted from the stands.

"And who in the world are you?" Ranger added, anger creeping into his voice.

"It'zzz not who, but what. I am a viruzzz, you see-e-e. And I've in-fezzz-ted this digital world. I've changed the rulezzzz. Made everything more dramatic-ic-ic."

"Screw this. I'm not gonna risk hurting myself and others for your sick amusement," Wyo hissed. Raising her hand she began to bring it down over her life point counter. "I qui-."

"I WOULDN'T DO THAT IF I WERE YOU," the virus buzzed angrily, stopping Wyo mere inches from her disk. "You s-see, if you lozzzze a duel, you d-d-dieee. Still want to f-f-forfeit? Now, pleazzze finish your duel. After that, I'll release the rest of the new rulz to everyone else to brushhh up on."

Wyo stared at her deck, shock numbing her from the inside and making it difficult to think. 'What. The. Hell. This is messed up! I can't... I can't do this! If I lose I die? If I win... I become... a killer. What do I do?!'

She glanced up at Beret and could tell the same was going through her mind. She was weighing her options: win and live or lose and die. No third option. No second chance.

"I... I draw." Beret's eyes filled with tears as she fought with her emotions. "I'll activate The Warrior Returning Alive spell card to return Marauding Captain from my graveyard to my hand."

"I... I gain 500 more life points thanks to that," Wyo stuttered.

Wyo - 5000

Beret - 3600

"Life points... quite literal now, huh? Regardless, I'll summon Marauding Captain back to the field in attack position and then special summon another Marauding Captain, this time in defense position. That will end my turn."

"M-My turn," Wyo struggled to breath, oddly aware of her racing heart pounding in her head in the now quiet colosseum. She drew her card and forced herself to breath. "I'll activate this for now. Sage's Stone! Since Dark Magician Girl is on my field I can special summon Dark Magician from my deck. Finally, thanks to my spell card, I gain 500 more life points. That'll do it for me."

Wyo - 5500

Beret - 3600

Beret drew her card silently, swallowing hard to clear the lump in her throat.

"I'll activate Monster Reborn and bring back my Command Knight, but he won't be around for long as I sacrifice him and my two captains in order to summon Gilford the Lightning!"

Wyo - 6000

Beret - 3600

Wyo watched as Beret's three monster shattered into digital fragments only to be reassembled into a single beast of a warrior. Gilford stood tall and proud as electricity sparked all around. Gripping his sword, he swung hard, sending an electrical blast at the two magicians. They flinched, tried to shield themselves, and were promptly removed from the field in a flash of light.

"My... My magicians!"

"That's right. Thanks to Gilford's ability, because I used three tributes instead of the normal two I was able to destroy all of your monsters. Now, Gilford, attack her life points directly!"

Wyo braces herself as the sword cleaved it's way through her digital body, overloading her neural synapses and flooding her mind with pain.

Wyo - 3200

Beret - 3600

"Stupid... virus... I hope you get deleted," Wyo scowled at the grinning entity as she drew her next card. "I set a monster face down and end my turn."

"Don't worry," Beret comforted, "as soon as we finish this duel I'll make sure it gets its just desserts. I draw, and activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards."

Wyo - 3700

Beret - 3600

"For now I'll summon Mataza the Zapper in attack mode. Next, I'll attack your monster with Mataza!"

Wyo gave a guilty grin as her monster was destroyed.

"You activated Old Vindictive Magician's flip effect. Now, I can target one monster on the field and destroy it, and I choose Gilford."

"No!" Beret cursed. "Fine, Mataza has a special ability as well. You see, he can attack twice a turn. Go Mataza, hit her directly this time!"

Wyo - 2400

Beret - 3600

Wyo hissed in pain as she felt the sting of a blade once more. Drawing her card, she quickly made a plan.

"I'll activate Brain Control. At the cost of 800 life points, cut down to only 300 thanks to Spell Absorption, I can take control of your monster until the end of the turn. Next, I'll sacrifice him in order to summon Cyber Magician. Lastly, I'll attack you directly and end my turn."

Wyo - 2100

Beret - 1200

Beret struggled to her feet, breathing roughly as she drew her potentially last card.

"I'll start off by summoning D. D. Warrior Lady in attack position. Next, I'll activate Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points I get to bring back a monster from my graveyard again, and I choose Gilford! Next up, Gilford will destroy your magician, opening up a path for my Warrior Lady to strike!"

Wyo - 0700

Beret - 0400

"Gah!" Wyo cried out as she fell back into the dirt. Every nerve fiber in her body felt as if it had been lit on fire. Every muscle screamed as she struggled to get to her feet, to draw her final card. Staring at her hand she felt like crying. If what the virus had said was true, the loser would be killed in the real world. Glaring at the virus, Wyo gave it a one finger salute before spitting blood at its feet. "I'm sorry Beret, but I don't want to die. I pray you'll forgive me for this... I summon Silent Magician Lvl 4 to the field!"

"What are you... No... Please don't! Don't do what I think you're about to do!"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I activate the spell card Level Up. With it I can send Silent Magician Lvl 4 to the grave and special summon from my deck its next form. I special summon Silent Magician Lvl 8 in attack position! Silent Magician, attack her D. D. Warrior Lady and end this nightmare!"

Wyo forced herself to watch as Beret's monster shattered into a million bits of data. She watched in horror as her opponent's life points drained to nothing before Beret's body began glitching out of existence. The virus strolled forward and caressed Beret's fading face before swiping its purple hand through her body, scattering the last bits of data into the virtual wind.

"Congratulationzzzz, Wyo. You survvvvvived."

Wyo opened her menu in a rush, scrolling through page after page as she desperately searched for the log out button.

"Where?!" She cried out as tears welled up in her eyes. "How do I log off? I need out of here! I-I need air! Where the #% is the log off button?!"

"Did I forge-ge-get to mention? All of you are stuck here. No logging out. Not until your reach the final stage. Not until you beat the final bosssss. Have fun, and don't keep me waiting."

The virus vanished, disappearing into the digital unknown. Wyo dropped to her hands and knees, gasping for breath as she began to hyperventilate. It was only when Hela grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her out of the stadium did she slowly regain her composure.


	2. Bugged Out

(Sorry about the long wait on the second chapter. Most of my knowledge of the card game is from nearly 8 years ago so I am constantly having to go back and research rulings and effects as well as learn new cards and strategies. If I made a mistake with an effect or ruling please message me and correct me. Also, feel free to leave a comment or review. Anything helps.)

Corrupted Links rules:

If a player loses a duel, whether by life point depletion, deck out, card effect, or surrender, that player is deleted and is committed to death.

If a duel between players is conducted in town that is not currently invaded by a Husk the losing player forfeits half of their Virtual Coins (known as VCoins or VC), but if that is not possible then that player shall forfeit their rarest card from their entire inventory.

If a Husk manages to touch a player a duel is automatically engaged with the loser being deleted.

A town that has been Invaded by a Husk automatically has its safe duel protections removed until the Husk has been defeated or removed. As with cities or larger towns that have at least two or more districts, the same rule applies but only the individual district is affected.

Every "floor/level" has a boss that must be defeated in order to advance. The only way to end the game is for a single player to defeat the final boss on the 100th floor.

"One hundred floors? Are you kidding me?! Two weeks in and nobody has even found the first floor boss."

Closing her digital menu Wyo slumped forward defeated. Most players hadn't even dared leave the starting city of Premier, and Wyo couldn't blame them. The threat of death if they lost outside of a safe area froze even the most elite duelist in their spot. A few had dared to journey out, some of which returned from time to time with stories of powerful cards as treasure or large sums of VCoins in pocket. Some, however, hadn't returned at all.

"Still mourning?" Hela asked as she flopped into the chair opposite of Wyo, kicking her feet up and leaning back precariously. "I told you, it wasn't your fault. You had no choice; it was either you or her and to be honest, I'm glad it was you who won."

"You don't think I know that?" Wyo groaned as she let the cool surface of the table top seep into her skull. Without looking up she pointed a thumb behind her at a small group of chatting players, all of which were glancing over at her and Hela. "Everyone knows I was well within my right to defend myself, but that hasn't stopped them from calling me a Player Killer. They even gave me a nickname, you know. Deleter."

"Who's calling you this?" Hela asked glaring over at the group which quickly scuttled away out of sight. "Bunch of #%$ing wusses. Too scared to even risk leaving town to help anybody escape."

"You do know that I haven't left either, right?"

"You get a pass. What you went through I wouldn't wish on anyone." The two sat in silence for a while, Hela browsing through her recent haul from her last excursion outside of town and Wyo looking on as players dueled safely within the confines of the town limits. "You know what might get you feeling better? Try getting out of town. Make a name for yourself as one of the few trying to help us get out of this prison."

Wyo didn't respond, but the thought stuck with her. She excused herself and left Hela to her deck tinkering before making her way towards the edge of town. Just before she reached the edge of town however, a voice caught her attention.

"Where do you think you're going, Deleter? Out looking for your next victim?"

Wyo let out a sigh and turned to face the individual. A tall, rather bulky male stood in front of a group of players, all of them grinning and encouraging their leader.

"Why, are you volunteering as tribute?" Wyo asked, fed up with staying silent to the harassment.

"You see?! She doesn't deny it! She's a cold blooded killer," the man exclaimed to the group. "I say we show her how we treat player killers... h-hey! Where are you going, Deleter?"

"I thought you wanted to show me what you do to player killers. I just assumed you meant you wanted to put your deck where you mouth is by dueling outside of town."

The group murmured to themselves as their leader physically recoiled slightly away from the safety barrier.

"I thought so," Wyo frowned as she turned back towards the vast open prairie. "Well, of you change your mind, I'm going to go look for the level one boss. Figured I'd help you pathetic lot get out of here since you won't do it yourselves."

As she continued on the dirt path out of town she heard the would-be leader curse her out before yelling, "Nothing will change the fact that you're a killer, Deleter. You're better off getting deleted out there!"

Hours had ticked by as Wyo trudged along the path, following signs here and there that indicated nearby towns or potential dungeons or locations that she could visit and possibly gather rare cards if the areas hadn't been pilfered yet. Wyo had made notes in her digital map as it slowly revealed the area to her with each step taken. Other players had been courteous enough to leave messages behind saying if a location was worth investigating or if all of the treasure had been looted.

Approaching the umpteenth sign that day, however, she noticed no notes from other players, no advice or warnings.

"Am I... am I the first one here?" She asked herself as she inspected the sign.

\- Duos City

Steel Overhang -

Curious, Wyo took the path on the right, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of treasure or potential threats. Reaching the end of the path, she sighed in defeat at having found nothing other than a rock formation that hung over a subdued area almost like a shallow cave. Climbing up and in she glanced around, still not finding anything of interest.

"Seriously?! Nothing? I thought marked locations like this would at least have something. VCoins, maybe a card or two, even-." Her voice trailed off as a scream and an inhuman screech sounded outside the cave. "...trouble."

Wyo rushed to the edge of the overhang, scanning the area for the source of the noise. Rustling bushes alerted her to the threat just before the bully from before came crashing through, tripping over his own feet before slamming face first into the ground. Twisting around quickly he glanced behind him as Wyo followed his gaze. A strange black creature stepped from the foliage, its ink-like eyes focused solely on the scared man on the ground before it. Reaching forward with its clawed hands, it moved in for the kill.

"Run you idiot!" Wyo howled as she threw herself forward, slamming into the creature before it could grab its intended prey.

"Initiating duel," a computerized voice announced over the area from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Wyo and the creature slammed into the dirt before an invisible force threw them apart. Wyo slowly rose to her feet, brushing dirt and leaves from her face before realizing what she'd just gotten herself into.

"I hope you're happy," Wyo growled at the bully who sat nearby, a fresh wet stain between his legs. "Why'd you even come out? To take me out yourself? To make me hate myself more? Tell me you sorry sack of $#%."

"I... I just wanted to apologize," he admitted, his lower lip trembling almost as bad as the rest of him. "I was being a jerk. I just wanted to look cool in front of my friends."

"Mission accomplished I suppose." Wyo watched at the creature activated a duel disk and drew its starting hand, quietly awaiting its opponent to do the same. "Fine, if it's a duel you want it's an @$$ whooping you'll get... God Hela was right, that censor is VERY annoying."

Wyo took a deep breath before activating her own duel disk and sliding her deck into place.

Wyo - 4000

Drone - 4000

"I'll start," Wyo exclaimed as she drew her first five cards, "by discarding a card from my hand in order to special summon The Tricky in attack position and end my turn."

"My... turn...," the drone clicked as it drew it's card and studied Wyo with its oily black eyes. "I summon... Steelswarm Genome... in attack position. Next, I play... Card Advance... which allows me to look at the top five cards of my deck... and rearrange them as I please. With its second ability... I can perform one tribute summon even if I've already summoned this turn. I sacrifice Steelswarm Genome in order to summon Steelswarm Caucastag."

Wyo cursed as the beefy, insect-like monster invaded the playing field. Without warning it reached forward and gripped The Tricky in its claws and crushed the spellcaster into pixelated dust.

"Wait, what gives?! Wyo panicked at being left wide open for an attack.

"Caucastag's ability activates... upon summoning... when two Steelswarm monsters are used for tribute," the drone informed. "Steelswarm Genome's ability allows it... to act as two tributes... for a Steelswarm tribute summon. When two tributes are used... Caucastag can either destroy all monsters on the field other than itself... or destroy all spells and traps. Now, Steelswarm Caucastag... attack her directly."

Wyo braces herself as the creature's claws slammed down on her, knocking the wind from her digital lungs.

Wyo - 1200

Drone - 4000

"You okay, Deleter?" The hapless bully called out as he waved dust away from his face. Seeing Wyo grimacing as she stood back to her feet he let out a sigh of relief. "You've got to win. You're the strongest duelist I've ever seen duel. If you can't beat this... thing... then what hope do any of us have at escaping this hell?"

"Would you shut up?" Wyo scowled. "I saved your @$$ by jumping into this mess. Why aren't you getting out of here anyway? If I lose this thing will turn to you again."

"I-I know," he stammered as he eyed the drone. "But it's my fault you're in this duel anyway. The least I can do is stay here with you until the end, regardless of the outcome. Nobody deserves to be alone, after all."

Wyo found herself at a loss for words, a small ounce of respect slowly growing within her for him.

"What's your name?" Wyo asked as she drew her next card.

"Why does it matter?"

"I'd like to know the name of the guy who dared to stand with a Deleter like me until the end."

"In the real world my name is Sean, but on here my name is BigPapa87."

Wyo just stared at him, unsure if she'd heard his username correctly or not. Shrugging her shoulders she turned back to the drone.

"Well, BigPapa87, you better keep your eyes peeled. Magicians tend to keep their best tricks for last." Wyo drew her next card and smiled. "I play the spell card Black Magic Ritual. By discarding one level eight monster I can ritual summon a powerful friend. Come forth, Magician of Black Chaos!"

The eerie black spellcaster rose from a purple glyph that had appeared on the ground in front of Wyo, arms crossed menacingly and eyes serious and focused on its foe. BigPapa87 gawked at the monster, shaking his disbelief from his mind as he checked its stats against the Steelswarm Caucastag.

"Uh, Wyo? I hope you have something up your sleeve. They both have the same attack."

"Of course I do. All magicians have aces up their sleeves. I now activate the spell card Riryoku. With it, I can cut your monster's attack in half and add that to my monster's attack. Now, Magician of Black Chaos, attack its monster and make it feel our wrath!"

Wyo's magician aimed its staff at Caucastag, blasting the enfeebled monster with dark energy. The resulting shockwave pummeled the drone, knocking its life points down even with Wyo's.

Wyo - 1200

Drone - 1200

The drone stared blankly as its life points dwindled down. Unfazed, it drew a card to begin its turn.

"I set... one card facedown... and one monster facedown in defense position and end... my turn."

"You've got it on the ropes!" Cheered BigPapa87 as he practically jumped up and down. "Now you just gotta finish it off. C'mon baby, momma needs a monster card!"

"Don't jinx me," Wyo scolded as she drew her card. "No monster, you see! But it'll help. I activate Pot of Greed. I get to draw two cards and hopefully one of them's a monster."

She looked at her two new cards and cursed her luck.

"You got lucky, bug. No monster. But I'll set one card face down before I attack your monster with my magician!"

Wyo and BigPapa87 watched as the magician's attack shot forth from its scepter only to swirl into nothingness mere inches from the drone's facedown monster. Confused, the two looked further back and found a trap card standing upright, revealed and activated.

"Negate Attack? I should've expected something like that. Fine, I end my turn."

"I draw... and activate Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points... I can return one monster from my graveyard to the field... and I choose Steelswarm Genome."

Wyo - 1200

Drone - 400

"Not Caucastag?" Wyo mused, worried about what the drone was planning.

"Correct... I sacrifice my Genome... using it as two sacrifices for a Steelswarm tribute... as well as sacrifice my facedown Steelswarm Cell... in order to summon Steelswarm Hercules. And by paying half of my remaining life points... I can destroy all other cards on the field."

Wyo - 1200

Drone - 200

"That's gonna leave you wide open for an attack, you've gotta do something!" BigPapa87 screeched.

"Shut up already, I've got it handled. I activate my facedown card, Waboku. My monster will still be destroyed by your effect but you can't harm my life points this turn, meaning I get one more turn."

"End... my turn."

Wyo let out a sigh of relief. Looking at her final card in her hand she scolded herself for not using it the turn before. 'Not good, I need a spellcaster or its game over for good.'

"I draw!" Holding her breath, Wyo slowly turned her card over and grinned. "Your luck just ran out, maggot. I summon The Unhappy Maiden in attack position!"

"Wha-... why that card?! It has zero attack! Its ability won't help you either! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Has anyone ever told you how annoying you can be? Even the weakest cards can be game winners if you combine it with other cards. Like this spell for example. I activate Magical Blast. For every spellcaster on my side of the field I get to inflict 200 points of damage to you, and luckily for me that's all you have left. Game over!"

The frail female monster held up her hands, forming a tiny ball of magical energy between them before hurling it directly at the drone. Wyo and BigPapa87 watched as it barely sputtered over to the drone before zapping its remaining life points to zero. Silently, the drone fizzled from existence, leaving a single card as a reward. The two walked over and inspected the prize.

"Gearfried the Iron Knight?" Wyo pouted. "I was hoping for something better, like a spellcaster or some support for them."

"He has his uses. But for now let's get back to town. I've had enough adventure for one day."

Wyo nodded in agreement as she added the new card to her digital storage case. The walk back was quiet, yet the time flew by much quicker than the trip out. The sun was just starting to set as they reached the town's safety border.

"Hey, Wyo? I'm sorry."

"You already said that," Wyo reminded, but a slight smile of appreciation couldn't help but appear at the edge of her lips.

"I know, but I want you to know that it's sincere. You're a great duelist and this whole situation has everyone on edge. We all just needed an outlet and unfortunately we all targeted you. I'll make sure to tell everyone to lay off and if they don't then they'll have me to deal with."

"I appreciate that. But you know, there is one more thing you could do for me."

"Name it."

"Change your username. I'm sorry but 'BigPapa87' is just... blah."

She hadn't expected him to, but he immediately opened his menu and began deleting his username, replacing it with something new.

"'Beast'?"

"I specialize in beasts, beast-warriors, and winged beasts. Figured I'd use a name that fit my style perfectly."

"Well, Beast, it fits nicely. Good luck out there. And don't be afraid to unleash your inner beast on the ones outside the safety boundaries. I'm certain you'll be able to kick plenty of @$$."


	3. 40, 39, 38, 37

(Fixed a few errors and currently working on continuing the series. Please provide constructive criticism explaining what you'd like changed or implemented)

Chapter 3: 40, 39, 38, 37...

"So, the first floor boss has finally been located?" Hela mused as she leaned back in her chair. A digital newspaper was spread out on the table between her and Wyo with a headline spanning most the page and a blurry image of a solitary humanoid. Wyo studied the figure, trying to judge who or what it was, but she could barely determine its height let alone any distinguishable features.

"Yeah," she mumbled in reply as she skimmed the article for any useful information. "Seems like it has defeated every challenger so far. Satan's_Child, Agent Agent, YugiMuto234... these were all some serious duelists. If the boss is beating the likes of them I can't imagine what the bosses after this will be like."

"What did they expect? It's a #%*ing boss! Of course the #%*er was gonna be powerful. Probably has some crazy strategy up its sleeve ready to crush anything that comes its way."

Wyo glared at Hela, shocked at how cold her friend had become in this virtual hell. Doing her best to get her friend back on topic and away from bashing on people who had died she opened her menu and brought up her deck list. Unlike Hela who had multiple, powerful decks by now, Wyo still had her one single deck focused purely around spellcasters. Even worse was the fact that she had hardly modified the deck since obtaining it.

'I guess that's what I get for being too scared to do any more exploring,' she thought to herself.

"Do you have any ideas or recommendations on how to make this deck run smoother or quicker?" She asked as she scrolled through a small list of available cards to use. "Maybe some sort of draw combos or deck thinning strategies to help get to the cards I need quicker?"

"It might help if you ditched the spellcasters all together," Hela suggested as she herself opened her deck list and picked a random deck. "Take this deck for example: Painful Choice helps put powerful cards in the graveyard where I can easily access them; Cyber Jar, to clear away powerful threats AND draw new cards, as well as Morphing Jar to draw a new hand; maybe even try some synchro monsters for added power. You don't have to JUST use spellcasters you know. Mix it up."

Wyo sat back and crossed her arms, pouting and mumbling something about Hela possibly being right. It wasn't until her chair was yanked from under her, causing her to tumble hard to the ground, did she let out her breath. Head swimming and throbbing, she pushed herself up onto an elbow as she glanced around, finding Hela grabbing the collar of some kid and pulling him back before he could slip away.

"Let me go! Crazy b#%*!"

"Oh hell no," Hela hissed as she spun the boy around allowing Wyo to catch sight of his face.

"You?! Aren't you..."

"Ranger," the boy growled as he struggled to shrug off Hela's grip to no avail. "You deleted my sister, Beret, in the opening ceremony duel."

"That wasn't her fault and you #%*ing know it, you little #%," Hela scolded.

"I don't care. Everything would have been better had my sister won instead," he spat back as tears slowly welled up in his eyes. "Why don't you do us all a favor and just go get yourself deleted!"

Hela's fist connected hard against Ranger's chin, sending him crashing into a nearby table before toppling onto the hard cobblestone. Grunting, he picked himself up and brushed the dust from his shirt, turning to glare at Hela as he wiped the digital trickle of blood from the edge of his lips.

"If you want someone to take your anger out on then bring it on little man," Hela taunted as her duel disk snapped into place while she shuffled her deck before slamming it into place.

Wyo started forward to intervene, but Ranger's reply cut her off before she could open her mouth.

"Fine. Just be glad we aren't outside of the barrier," he snarled as his own duel disk activated.

"Duel."

"Duel."

Hela - 4000

Ranger - 4000

"Ladies first," Hela smiled as her fingers danced over her starting hand indecisively. "Hmm, let's start things off with the spell card Card Destruction. Now, each of us discards our entire hands and draw the same amount. And because I discarded Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World with a card effect I can special summon him to my side of the field."

A spear-wielding fiend sprung forth from Hela's graveyard, roaring viciously as it eyed Ranger with its dark eyes. Ranger seemed unfazed as he placed his entire hand in the graveyard and drew five more cards. Hela did the same, only drawing four cards before her graveyard flashed brightly for a few moments.

"Oh, forgot to mention Beiige's pal Broww, Huntsman of Dark World. Because I discarded him with Card Destruction's ability I can now draw one more card." Hela drew one more card before waving a hand at Ranger, inviting him to do his worst. "I end my turn."

Hela - 4000 LP, 30 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 30 deck

"Dark World, huh?" Ranger mused as he drew a card. "Should have expected a monster like her to be friends with a fiend like you."

"Call me what you want but don't you dare call Wyo a monster or you'll end up regretting it," Hela replied calmly. Wyo knew her friend too well to know she was anything but.

She could see the vein at Hela's temple pulse angrily. Minor tremors of rage shook her friend from her legs to the top of her head. Wyo could even hear Hela as she breathed in through her nose deeply, doing her best to contain her rage.

"Hela," Wyo called out gently, soothingly. "It's okay. Don't let him get in your head. His words don't bother me."

"You're not a monster, though. Everyone who knows you knows that. You are always so calm and patient, even when you were teaching me how to play. You even helped me through the tough times when... when my mom... when she... So I'll be damned if I let this little boy call you such. Besides, if anyone around here is a monster it's me."

"Oh please," Ranger scoffed. "If you're such a monster then I'm glad I've got knights on my side. I summon Marauding Captain to the field in attack position. And thanks to his ability I'm able to special summon one level four or lower monster to the field. I special summon Command Knight, also in attack position. With him on the field all of my warrior-type monsters will gain 400 attack points, and as long as I control another monster you can't target him for an attack. Next I'll activate the continuous magic card, The A. Forces. For each warrior-type monster I control my warriors gain 200 additional attack points. That means that with these two out on the field that's 400 more each, bringing their totals to 2000 a piece."

"Holy #% you're long winded," Hela huffed as she rolled her eyes.

"Shut up! First I'll destroy your monster with my Marauding Captain." The soldier rushed forward, twin blades slashing effortlessly through Beiige and reducing him to pixilated dust. "But that's not all. Now my Command Knight will attack you directly before ending my turn."

Hela - 1600 LP, 30 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 29 deck

Hela was blasted back as the knight cut through her life points, easily shredding half of her remaining total. Dusting herself off she gave a loud and obnoxious yawn.

"Is that it? I was hoping for a little more 'umph', especially from a couple of warriors. Let's see what I can do in return. I draw... well, it's not a game winner but it'll do for now. I activate a continuous spell card myself, The Dark Door. Now, neither of us can attack with a second monster. You'll have to settle with just one attack a turn. I'll set a monster face down in defense position, set three cards face down, and finish this turn by activating Mystical Space Typhoon. Say goodbye to your spell card."

Hela - 1600 LP, 29 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 29 deck

Ranger let out a low hiss as he watched his monsters' attack points drop. He waited for Hela to give him another wave indicating his turn to draw his card. Looking it over he couldn't help but grin.

"Only one monster can attack a turn with that spell card, correct? Fine. I summon Mataza the Zapper! And with Command Knight still on the field his attack is boosted to 1700."

"Oh no!" Hela feigned a horrified expression. "Maybe that WOULD have been great if you could attack more than once."

"Who says I can't? Mataza has a neat ability. You see, he can attack twice a turn. Go, Mataza, attack his monster."

The samurai monster easily smashed through Hela's face-down Soul Absorbing Bone Tower before turning its attention to Hela herself and closing in for the final strike.

"Well that sucks... sucks that I needed to activate this face-down quick play spell card. Emergency Provisions allows me to send any number of other spell or trap cards I have on the field to the graveyard and gain 1000 life points for each card sent. So I'll send one of my other face-down cards to the graveyard to give myself a little pick-me-up before your attack can land."

Hela - 900 LP, 29 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 28 deck

Hela sighed as she checked her remaining life points. Had she lost any more from that attack she wouldn't be do what she had planned. All she needed was one more card. Drawing a card she huffed disappointedly but knew it wasn't all bad. Checking the field summary display realized just how much more work she had left if she was going to win.

'The kid ain't that bad,' she thought to herself. Looking over at Wyo, her thoughts lingered on Ranger's sister, Beret. 'His sis musta been a pretty good teacher. Too bad for him mine was better.'

"I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two more cards. Next up I summon another Soul Absorbing Bone Tower in attack position. I'll then follow that up with Premature Burial. At the cost of 800 life points I can special summon a monster from my graveyard in attack position, and I choose the first Soul Absorbing Bone Tower that you destroyed last turn."

Hela - 100 LP, 28 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 28 deck

"What good will that do? You're on the brink of losing and your monsters are in attack position. All I have to do is attack to win."

"Well, while I control another zombie you can't target my Bone Towers as attack targets. And since they are both zombies you can't target either one. Kinda like your Marauding Captain over there. Also, whenever a zombie is special summoned to my field my Towers force you to discard two cards from your deck to the graveyard."

Hela - 100 LP, 28 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 26 deck

"So I can't target them, and even if I could attack I could only do so with one monster a turn. Seems like a turtle strategy to me. Or are you stalling for something big?"

"Nothing big like Exodia if that's what you're wondering," Hela replied as she pointed at her last facedown card. "But I will activate this, Call of the Haunted. Now I get to special summon another monster to the field from my graveyard and I'll choose one I discarded earlier with Card Destruction... my final Soul Absorbing Bone Tower. That makes four more cards you have to discard."

Hela - 100 LP, 28 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 22 deck

"That'll do it for me."

Ranger scowled as he drew his card, annoyance flooding his face with a wash of red. Without speaking he played The A. Forces, allowing his monsters to be beefed up once again before ending his turn.

Hela - 100 LP, 28 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 21 deck

"Seems like I've hit a nerve. Let's see what other damage I can do with this next card... hmm, not bad. I activate Book of Life. This card allows me to remove from play one of the monsters in your graveyard while simultaneously special summoning one from my graveyard. Go ahead and remove whichever one you want, as for me I'm gonna special summon another card that was discarded with Card Destruction, Pyramid Turtle, in defense position. Your turn."

Ranger groaned as the new zombie appeared on the field causing the three Tower monsters to light up before six cards were sent from his deck to the graveyard.

Hela - 100 LP, 28 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 15 deck

"This is getting old real quick," Ranger huffed. Drawing his card he waved Mataza forward, his anger obscuring his reasoning as he pointed at Pyramid Turtle. "Mataza, destroy that piece of garbage."

It felt good to finally be able to do something. Ranger's eyes danced at the sight of the monster erupting into tiny particles. The feeling was short lived, however, when they reformed into Pyramid Turtle once more causing the Bone Towers to light up once more.

"Wha-... What gives?!"

"Thanks to you my turtle's ability activated. When it gets destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard I'm allowed to special summon one zombie with 2000 or less defense from my deck to the field, and I chose another Pyramid Turtle. That means six more cards from your deck."

Hela - 100 LP, 28 deck

Ranger - 4000 LP, 8 deck

"Screw you! Mataza, attack again!"

Hela simply shook her head as another turtle was destroyed only to be replaced by her third Pyramid Turtle. She watched as six more cards vanished from Ranger's already miniscule deck.

"That's all she wrote, kid," Hela shrugged. "You may as well for-."

"Just keep attacking!" Ranger cried out as tears of rage and defeat rolled down his face. Even when his monsters refused to budge, thanks to Hela's Dark Door spell card, he kept prompting them to march on. It wasn't until Wyo stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder did he let his arms drop as he fell to his knees sobbing. Hela watched as the duel cleared and declared her the victor.

"Ranger? It's okay. Ber-... Your sister would have been proud of you," Wyo said soothingly, still unable to get the girl's name past her own lips. "You seem so much like her. I can tell you two were very close just by watching you duel."

"We... We used the same strat-... the same strategies," he struggled to get out. "I just... I just want my sister back."

Wyo pulled his head into her chest, hugging him tight as he sobbed heavily. Wyo turned to look back at Hela, glaring at her and mouthing, "You're an hole."

"What? The kid needed this," Hela replied. She was about to say something more when she froze and looked around, her gaze slowly taking in the rapidly changing sky. "Umm, guys, what's going on?"

Wyo glance up and watched the sky above the city turn red and menacing. Ranger, still sniffling, did so as well, wiping his eyes clear of tears just to be sure he was seeing things clearly. Suddenly, a siren began wailing all around while warning displays lit up in front of every player's face.

"'Warning'?" Wyo read aloud to nobody in particular. "'Husk invasion'? 'All town safeguards have been disabled'?! 'All duels are to the death until the Husk has been defeated'?!"

"Not good," Hela hissed looking around. "Where is it? We've gotta find it fast and defeat it before someone gets killed."

Wyo shook Ranger back to his senses, getting him to look her in the eyes before speaking.

"Are you going to be okay? Are you going to be able to defend yourself if need be?"

His mouth opened and shut but no words were forming. Swallowing, his eyes narrowed and became serious as he nodded.

"Good. Hela, Ranger, let's go. We've gotta find this thing and get rid of it ASAP."


End file.
